Giotto Pizza Miami Beach, FL
After meeting with some potential clients the other day we decided to take a walk around the block to try out Giotto Maestro della Pizza on West Avenue. My new friends at the office we were in said it was some of the best pizza around, so I couldn’t wait to try it out. The other day when we were in this section of Miami Beach, we walked by it but didn’t eat there. I wanted to badly, but my host wanted to go to Oliver’s a few doors down. Now was my chance!
Giotto Pizza or Giotto Maestro della Pizza (that isn’t the best name for google search since most will just search Giotto) has a few tables outside and about a dozen inside. It isn’t the biggest of places but it was cozy enough to pass by as quaint. We were greeted by a couple of Italian guys behind the counter and began to look at the menu.
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Pizza Pizza Bayside Miami
After going to the Vampire Circus under the tent on the south side of Bayside in Miami, we all decided it was time to grab something to eat. It seemed logical enough to go Bayside and see if there was something we could all agree on. One person didn’t want Hooters, another didn’t want Bubba Gump, and eventually we made it down towards the east side of the plaza and saw Pizza Pizza located next to some gelato place.
Pizza Pizza didn’t have any seats inside but they did possess a couple of empty tables outside, so we all went in and placed our individual orders.
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Harry’s Pizza Miami Design District
I have been to the “best pizza” places all over the world. I have tasted what I consider to be some of the best pizza in the world during these travels. Many times the places the local papers and review sites recommend are right, but many times they are wrong. Recently Food and Wine magazine put out their Best New Pizza Places in the United States post, and included Harry’s Pizza in the Miami Design District as one of the best.
Since I have never eaten there I decided to go give it a try and see if I could believe the rest of their picks based upon the decision to include Harry’s Pizza.
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Casola’s Pizza Miami
Ok, here is where I make some enemies of long time readers who reside in Miami. Casola’s Pizza is not that good! Yes I know, that many of you consider this to be the Best Pizza in Miami, and will question all my other reviews and how valid they are now that I have gone against one of your favorite places, but let me show you the photos and explain. I think you might see things my way.
During a previous review from one of our trusted experts, Mike went to Casola’s Pizza and had a below average veggie slice. Yes, it was I, who told him he was nuts, that it must have been a bad day, since the last time I went to Casola’s, I enjoyed it very much, and considered Casola’s Pizza one of the best slices in Miami. Well that was until I had Slice n Ice, which is now closed.
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Sir Pizza Key Biscayne, Miami
While down in Key Biscayne for the New Years holiday, I decided to venture away from our hotel, to try some of the local places that would be open on New Years Day. We stumbled upon Sir Pizza not to far from our accommodations, and although there was a heck of a line, we decided to go in and check it out. I couldn’t be sure if this was busy because it was one of the few places open, or there were so many tourists in town. Turns out the crazy long line is something that Sir Pizza in Key Biscayne regularly has. Sir Pizza is quite popular amongst the locals who live in this section of paradise.
Once inside Sir Pizza, I noticed that they appear to be using one of those cheapy conveyor belt oven contraptions, you know the kind you find at a Pizza Hut and the like. Not something you would find at a local mom and pop pizza place. So between the line, and the look of the oven, it should have been enough to make me turn around and go across the street to the other pizza place in this section of Key Biscayne, which was completely empty.
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Primo’s Pizza Miramar, FL
Ed note: Management has since informed me that they have corrected the below Cheese Shaker issue by getting new ones. I have photos at the end of the story now.
While down in the Miramar area, to do some filming at NBC, we asked the staff in the studio where we could get the best pizza in Miramar from? Almost all said to go to Primo’s Pizza, which was a bit west of the station, and that it would be worth it. So we headed across the highway and began our quest to taste what was described as the best pizza in Miramar. Primo’s Pizza wasn’t that easy to locate, since it is on the west side of the plaza and doesn’t face the main road. We parked and went in hoping it was a grab a slice and seat yourself kind of place, but were quickly altered to the fact that we should seat ourselves and wait for a server.
Everyone who reads this site knows that I HATE HAVING TO BE SERVED MY SLICES. This could be one of the only times I was happy to get a waitress. The girl who served us was awesome. Her name was Daniella. She was friendly, cute, bubbly, and just made us feel like we belonged there. Regardless of how the pizza might have tasted, I would go back for pasta or something else when in the area, just to know I could have her again.
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Hosteria Romana Pizza Espanola Way Miami Beach
While spending the weekend with my family down in South Beach, my wife and I decided to meet up with one of our close friends. She was also in town to attend the Sleepless in Miami event. After watching people dance on the side of a building, we decided to go eat a snack. They also wanted to drink, so we headed towards Espanola Way, which is one of the cutest streets in Miami Beach. While walking down Espanola Way we were accosted by a waiter at a restaurant named Hosteria Romana, who wouldn’t leave us alone until we ate. I hate when places leave people outside their restaurants (unless they are crazy hot girls like on Lincoln) telling you to “come eat come eat, is good, is very good.” Since it was late and there weren’t many other choices if we walked by Hosteria Romana, we decided to give it a shot. What a terrible mistake that was, in my opinion.
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T.O. Pizza Shop Miami
I had been hearing about a pizza place from my friend Carlos in Miami called Piccola Italia on Coral Way in Miami for some time now. Carlos seems to share the same taste in pizza as I do, so I had no doubt it would be a decent slice. Since I was down in Miami for a conference, a few Twitter friends and I decided to meet up there. After paying to park and walking into Piccola Italia we were disappointed to find out they didn’t have any slices. Usually the pizza guy would say “I have a fresh one coming out”, but the two people behind the counter just let us walk out without offering us any option but a pie. They also didn’t have seats there, so be advised. They also have one of the worst looking websites I have ever seen, in my opinion.
We decided instead to go to another pizza place down the road, which had some type of previous relationship to Piccola Italia, but they were no longer in business in that locations. Ultimately we decided to get to T.O. Pizza Shop, which I guess stands for Tio, like uncle? There were no other patrons in T.O. Pizza Shop on this evening, and the owners were there with their child and were extremely nice, even though I wasn’t able to communicate with them, since it appeared they only spoke Spanish. Soy un gringo!
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Spartico Pizza Coconut Grove Miami
A few years ago I stumbled upon a Wood Fired Pizza Place down in the Miami Design District named Pizza Volante. It was owned by Jonathan Eismann, and it was delicious. Many times I mentioned to people that this place could be a South Florida favorite if it was located somewhere else. Not sure the Design District was the right place for this kind of pizza. Low and behold, Eismann closed Pizza Volante, and left many sad faces on those who loved his pies.
Recently rumors surfaced that Eismann was helping a new restaurant opening at the Mayfair Hotel in Coconut Grove, named Spartico. Many of us were hoping they were true, and that he himself, was opening a new place. Well, the rumor was kinda true. Eismann was in fact working with the owners of Spartico for the new concept, but only as a consultant. Still, this was good news, especially if he had all the say in the menu, and especially when it came to the oven and ingredients they would use in their pizza.
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Mai Tardi Pizza in the Miami Design District, Miami, FL
Sometimes I wonder if the Design District of Miami is an example of how the desert will reclaim itself. It has all the makings to be a really cool, chic place, but the elements around it seem to prevent it from growing to its true potential. It has amazing art galleries, easy access to the highways, and some fantastic dining, but yet stores seem to come and go, and numerous restaurants fail within a short period of opening.
Even with all the restaurants that have recently closed, it hasn’t stopped some new innovative ones from giving it a try. One such place is Mai Tardi. Although many seem to get the name wrong, and spell it Mai Tarde, or Mia Tardi, however you find this place will be worth it.
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